The Agar Solar Park is a 550MW photovoltaic plant being built in Madhya Pradesh, India. The project is developed by the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), a joint venture of Madhya Pradesh UrjaVikas Nigam (MPUVN) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
Besides Agar Solar Park, RUMSL is also implementing 500MW Neemuch Solar Park and 450MW Shajapur Solar Park in the state. The combined capacity of the three solar parks will be 1.5GW.
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The site for Agar solar project was selected during 2016-17. The preparation for the Environmental and Social Baseline and Scoping review was undertaken in May-June 2019.
RUMSL released a request for proposal (RfP) for the project in January 2020. A reverse auction was held in July 2021.
The foundation stones for all the three parks were laid in November 2021. The solar projects are slated to become operational in 2023.
Agar Solar Park Location
The Agar Solar Park will be situated in Agar District of Madhya Pradesh. It will comprise of two units- Unit 4 (200MW) and Unit 5 (350MW).
Unit 4 of the Agar Solar Park will be in Agar Tehsil and Unit 5 in the Susner Tehsil. Both units will cover 1,108.63 hectares of land.
With an average elevation of 1,500 feet (ft), Unit 4 is situated around 12.7km from Agar Town. State Highway 27 passes at the same distance from the unit.
Unit 5, with an average elevation of 1,480ft, will be situated around 8.3km from Susner Town and can be accessed by State Highway 14.
Establishing the solar park will lead to the utilisation of scrub and agricultural land for at least 25 years.
Agar Solar Park Infrastructure
According to the Final ESIA Report published in October 2020, the Agar Solar Park will comprise of solar modules based on poly/mono crystalline and/or thin film (CdTe) of different capacities.
The modules will be installed with fixed tilt and single axis tracking mounting structures.
The power conditioning unit (PCU) will be equipped with 2,500kW inverter to convert fuel cell generated power to useable power.
A cable rack method will be used to connect the plant to 33kV outdoor air-insulated substation.
The main control room infrastructure will include switch gear room, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)/ control room, battery, auxiliary room and telecommunication infrastructure among others.
Power Transmission
There will be two 33/220 kV pooling substations, one at each unit. The solar park will be connected to the individual substations via 33kV cables.
Power generated by the project will be evacuated via the 220/400kV Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) substation of the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) located in Pachora Village of Agar Tehsil.
The internal pooling substation and grid substation will be connected by 220kV single and double circuit transmission lines.
From Unit 4, a single circuit transmission line of 1.23km length will be interconnected with the transmission line of Unit 7 of Shajapur Solar Park. This will be followed by a 1.23km long double circuit transmission line, which will be built up to ISTS substation.
Unit 5 will be linked to ISTS substation via a single circuit 220kV 29.5km-long transmission line.
Under offtake arrangements, the renewable power generated will be supplied via the national grid to Indian Railways and the Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company (MPPMCL).
Key Contractors Involved
The site for the solar farm was selected by real estate consultancy and estate agency Knight Frank during 2016-2017.
Environmental Resource Management (ERM) India, a subsidiary of the ERM International, prepared the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report for the solar park.
Toshiba Mitsubishi- Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC), a company that delivers industrial solutions, will supply inverter for the project.
In July 2021, Avaada Energy and O2 Power were declared winners in the RUMSL auction for Agar Solar Park. O2 Power won a capacity of 350MW, while Avaada Energy won a capacity of 200MW.
